How To Have PRODUCTIVE Calls With Your Accountability Partner

 
Accountability Partner
 

This year, I made a pretty big decision to intentionally piss some people off. Who are the unfortunate angry people that have incurred my wrath, you ask? My trifling student loan company.

Since I've been tracking my finances like a boss, I made a conscious decision to get out of debt. Like, completely out of debt - student loan debt, credit card debt, and all of that left over, residual debt from my early 20's (#YoungAndDumb) by my 30th birthday.

This would require an insane amount of discipline, planning, and focus... over the course of a few years. (It's like I'm training for the Olympics, but no one will hand me a medal at the end of it.) That's when I decided to get an accountability partner.

 

What is an accountability partner?

An accountability partner is someone that ensures you're reaching your goals by checking in with you periodically. The greatest accountability partners are your high productivity, type-A besties because they can gossip about absolutely nothing over wine for hours, but still have an off switch when it's time to work.

Why accountability partners work.

Add social pressure.

When everyone else is going to the party, you want to go, right? This is the same thing. You are making a commitment to your friend that you will accomplish your goals. Wouldn't want to let her down, now would you?

Give you a schedule.

If you know you have someone checking in with you about whether you published that blog post, you're going to make sure you get it done before your call!

Fresh perspective on your ideas.

Now, you have someone to tell you if your ideas are great... and if you need to think through them a bit more.

Play Devil's advocate.

Every idea sounds good in your head, right? An accountability partner will challenge those ideas and make sure you've thought about it from every angle.

Have I sold you on getting an accountability partner yet? Good!

 

How To Make Your Accountability Calls Productive

Reflect on your accomplishments and where you want to go BEFORE THE CALL.

After each accountability call (if you've done it right) you'll walk away with at least 3 to-do items. Right before the next call starts, ask yourself whether you actually accomplished those goals. If you didn't, why not? Did you only partially complete your goals?

Taking account of what you've done ahead of time will make it easier for you to translate what you've done to your accountability partner so your call is not filled with a bunch of hmmmm's and let me check's.

Also, if you have an idea of where you want to take your goals next, that gives a lot of opportunity to talk about how you will execute your ideas on the calls. Being fully prepared for your accountability call gives you an opportunity to GO DEEPER into your goals and ideas on the calls. 

 

Be ready to share your ideas.

Just as you'll be sharing your accomplishments and goals with your accountability partner, they will be sharing theirs with you. Listen carefully to what their goals are. Better yet, write them down so you can look back at them. Ask questions to make sure you fully understand what their next steps are.

Then (get ready for it...) share what you think about their new idea. Do you think it's brilliant? Have you done something similar and have an experience to share? Are you excited about the idea? Is there a way to DREAM BIGGER here?

Sharing your ideas and experience is a way to add more value to a conversation by presenting a new perspective that your partner may not have considered or thought about.

 

Keep a log of your accountability partner's goals.

Talking about your goals is all fine and good, but at the end of the year of working with your accountability partner, what have you accomplished? What has your partner accomplished? 

You cannot measure what you don't track. Keeping a long of your partner's goals will allow you to say, "Wow, you've paid off $6K in your loans in 5 months!" or "Wow, you wanted to pay off $2000 this month and you paid $3000!" It will also show you whether or not you've been successful over time. 

 

Stay on topic.

The one downside to having a friend as an accountability partner is when you get the urge to go WAY off topic. You could be talking about career options and opportunities and then fall way off track talking about what you're going to do the upcoming weekend. 

Guard your accountability time like the queen on a chess board. Your time is valuable and precious. Take good care of it and you'll win every time.

xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

  1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

  2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts

  3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

 This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

How to Push Yourself Out of Your Comfort Zone... And Start Thriving At Something New

 
get out of your comfort zone
 

About two years ago, before I became a rockstar coding machine and a Vision Board guru, I realized I made a lot of bad choices (they all seemed smart at the time) and I was standing at a dead end in my personal life wondering, quite candidly, how in the world did I get here?

Better yet, I kept asking myself how do I get out of this?

I tried everything from reading books, going to networking events, journaling, meditating, and going screen-free for an hour every morning (because that's what successful people do according to click-bait articles), but nothing was working for me. That's when I decided to find a way that would work for me and my personality.

Here are the four steps I took that pushed me to commit to my goals and FINALLY become the change I wanted to see in my life. 

 

Take a class that costs REAL MONEY.

Why does it have to cost money, you ask? Well, how many of us have a gym in our apartments or in our offices at work? Now, how many of us REALLY go? No matter how many free options I've ever had, the only time I've ever been consistent with going to the gym is when I'm paying a monthly fee to hop on a treadmill or take a zumba class. No matter who you are or where you are, MONEY TALKS. 

Even in goal setting, when you put your money on the line, that sends a jolt to your brain that you've invested in making this goal a reality and it is now your job to make it come true. There are plenty of places to find free classes (and I completely recommend taking them and leveling up your skills) but when you're making a BIG change to something you've never done before it doesn't hurt to have a psychological motivator to keep you going when times get tough. 

Pro tip: Take a class that has a specific date and time. Recorded lectures give you the opportunity to say "I'll do this tomorrow" or "I'm tired right now, I'll come back to this later." When you know that you have to show up on a certain date and time to take the class, you will be there, pen-and-paper in hand. (Bye-bye procrastination!)

 

Get an accountability partner

A good accountability partner can be life changing. In short, this is a person that calls you at a particular date and time on an ongoing basis to talk about your progress on your goals. This can be a best friend or an acquaintance as long as they're focused on helping you achieve your goals and they are CONSISTENT.

When I was preparing to go back to grad school, I was ANNOYED with studying for the GRE. To be honest, I hated it. No matter how much I knew I needed to do this to get into a good program, I could not actually stay consistent with studying. I would start, study for an hour and then put the book down for a month or two. This cycle would continue for over a year until I decided to get a study partner. Every week for 3 months, my friend and I would choose what chapters we'd study, set concrete goals in how we scored in the sample tests and call each other on Sundays to touch base. 

 

Hire a professional.

Hiring a professional is not always necessary, but sometimes the skills you don't have can be a barrier to getting started with your goals. For example, if you want to open a bakery and you are the best baker IN THE WORLD, but you don't know how to set up a website. In fact, you've been trying to set up this website for months and you're still confused by the software.

This website is the one thing standing in the way of you and your dream because you're spending hours on end trying to figure out something that has nothing to do with baking. Rather than using this as an excuse to push back your launch date (...again), hire someone to take care of the tech while you focus on being the best baker (or writer, or entrepreneur) out there.

Pro tip: If you don't want to go through the struggle of searching online and hoping for the best, go to upwork.com and hire a freelancer. I love this site because it's easy to compare offerings and have transparency in costs. 

 

Get started.

TODAY. (Yup, it's that simple.)

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

  1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

  2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts

  3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.


This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

5 Things To Do BEFORE You Make a Vision Board

 
 

I've kinda become a pro at creating a vision board that works. Seriously, no matter how much my life sucks and how big and unrealistic my vision is, every vision board I've created has pushed me to make the impossible possible in my life. (I am totally a goal-gladiator.)

It's hard to believe that a tiny board with some magazine clippings on it has so much power, but the truth is that it works because of HOW I created it.

I didn't just slap some pictures of Oprah on a poster board and call it a day.... I spent weeks reflecting internally about what I wanted and then combed through a giant stack of magazines, tossing out anything that didn't SPEAK VOLUMES to my soul. 

The entire process takes weeks... and each time, it's totally worth it. 

Here are the five things you should do BEFORE you even begin creating your vision board:

 

Reflect on what you've already accomplished this year.

A lot of things happen over the course of 1 year. If you consider social media alone, millions of things happen over the course of 1 day. (In any 30-minute span, you could see public outrage over some company's insensitive+non-inclusive ad followed by excitement over the latest zoo animal to have a baby which quickly gets upstaged by a Kardashian being, well, a Kardashian.)

Take a moment to reflect on what has happened in your life in the past year.

What did you accomplish?

What did you try and fail at?

What did you do that made you proud this year? 

Taking account of your successes will help you understand what you need to build on.

 

Think about the direction you want to take your life next.

One thing many people forget is that you are definitely in control of your life. If you don't enjoy something in your life, you can change it

One affirmation I take with me every day (and write at least three times a week in my journal) is: 

I am the architect of your life. I build it's foundation and choose it's contents.

How many times have you stayed in a job, a relationship, friendship, living situation simply because... There's no real reason you're there, but after a while you start to convince yourself 

"I guess this is just the way life is"

The beauty of a vision board is that it's an annual reminder that you can change direction and that you GET TO CHOOSE your next destination.

 

What Do You Want To Change?

No matter who you are, where you are or how successful you are, everyone knows at least ONE THING they want to change about themselves.

Maybe you want to...

  • Lose weight.

  • Finally get your side hustle off the ground.

  • Spend more time with family and friends.

  • Strengthen your marriage.

The things you are unhappy with are the key to determining where you want to go next.

Once you understand exactly what you want to change, you can do the real work figuring out HOW you will change it.  

 

What Would You Do Differently... If There Was Nothing Holding You Back?

I know what you're thinking... what do you want to change and what would you do differently are pretty much the same thing! (I swear they are not! 😃)

Often, we find ourselves in an unusual position where we have something that we want to change, but there's nothing we can really do about it. 

Most people have at least one thing that ties them to something they don't particularly want in their life.

  • Your spouse's job may keep you in a certain area.

  • Your children's daycare costs may keep you from saving as much as you want.

  • Aging parents consume your free time so you can't start that business you've been thinking about.

What would you do if none of those barriers were holding you back from living the life you want today?

 

Be clear on your next BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal).

Having a goal in mind BEFORE you start clipping cute quotes and pictures out of inspirational magazines is crucial to creating a vision board that serves your purpose. 

Your goal could be...

  • Building on your past success

  • Changing something that's making you unhappy

  • Eliminating (or getting around) barriers holding you back from living your best life

ONLY when you have a clearly defined goal can you be strategic about finding the visuals to put on your vision board to serve that goal. 

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

  1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

  2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts

  3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.


This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

Three Ways To Take Advantage of Life's Greatest Opportunities

 
opportunities
 

A few months ago, I received an email from my local news station to do a segment on our first annual vision board conference. 

This was a great opportunity for the conference to FINALLY get some coverage on a large scale. Of course, I was happy to get this type of interest for our first event, but instead of jumping for joy, I panicked. 

We'd need to find a location to shoot for the entire morning. I had to set up four different shoots, organize to have some volunteers to help, and have our speakers and sponsor ON SET AT 8AM... and we had about a week to pull it together. If I could describe how I felt in that moment, it was:

10% excitement,
10% headache (thinking about all the new items to add to my ever-growing to-do list) 
80% panic

By the time the camera crew was ready to shoot, we'd somehow made it happen... and went on national TV looking like we had our lives together. 

Opportunities don't present themselves all the time, but when they do, you'd better be ready for them. Here are my best tips for taking advantage of life's greatest opportunities.

 

call your go-to Girlfriend that helps you dream big

This works best when you're in panic mode. Call that one friend that you admire most. You know, the one that's always managing to pull off the most amazing events, create the most high profile partnerships and moves mountains... all while looking like a runway model.

When I called up my go-to girlboss panicking about all the things on my to-do list she was calm and gladly offered advice and ideas. Then, before getting off the phone, she uttered words that stuck with me to this day: 

You're doing this.

She reminded me that I am going to do this news segment. I just have to figure out the how.  And just like that, the panic went away and I drifted off into strategy mode.

 

Call in the your personal #ThriveTribe

You will need help creating girlboss magic, especially when you're on a time crunch. Calling your trustworthy friends and family to help you pull things together will take some things off your plate.

With some additional help, you can worry less, work less and things will still get done. This also clears your mind to be more creative and thoughtful, ensuring you don't miss anything important.

While I was busy creating the press release, communicating with the news team and creating the layout for the segment, my #ThriveTribe was hard at work. I didn't have to worry about contacting the speakers or volunteers because they took care of it. After one chat with my aunt, she agreed to let us use her restaurant for the shoot and she also provided some early morning eats for everyone on set. (At this point, I'm like... Panic? What's that?)

 

Keep Showing Up.

Have you ever wondered why the same influencers, bloggers and Rockstar employees keep getting all the BEST opportunities? They simply keep showing up and keep doing the best they can NO MATTER WHAT. 

If a huge project fails. They show up ready to work.
If they are losing money in their business. They show up for work.
When their web traffic is down AND they're getting no love on social media... they keep showing up for work.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. That show was months in the making.

I'd been calling friends and family for months letting them know how excited I was to be creating the first Vision Board conference in DC and keeping them up to date on each new milestone.

My Dad saw first-hand that I was very serious about this event. I was investing money and a significant amount of time, securing sponsors and booking speakers. Eventually he started to talk to his friends about what his "baby girl" was doing (as parents often do) and one of his friends said she'd be interested in covering the event on her show.

Before we had web traffic, speakers or sponsors, ticket sales or news coverage, it was just an idea. All of those things came because we started showing up EVERY. SINGLE. DAY... ready to work.

What are your best tips to take advantage of opportunities?

If you enjoyed this article, then you might like my book:

Goal Doing: Practical Advice For Goal Setting, Action Planning and Achieving Your Dreams


This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!